Dr. Timothy Tennent: Parable of the Apple Trees
Perhaps at this stage in the summer, a little humor might help.
Parable of the Apple Trees
Once, in a faraway land, there was a master of a large house and estate with over 1000 acres of apple trees. The Apples were ripe and ready to be picked. So, he called his servants together and said to them, “Go into all the apple orchards and pick fruit from every section, bring the harvest into my house. We are going to have a great banquet. So, go forth, work hard until I return.” So, the servants went out from the master’s house and began to pick Apples. However, they did not go out into all the field as the master had commanded. Instead, they all stayed very close to the master’s house, in the handful of acres immediately around the house. Because there were so many servants working in one area, someone thought it would be a good idea to organize them. So, some were given the responsibility to pick the Apples. Others were responsible to pack them into boxes and others were given the responsibility to drive the trucks which brought the Apples to the house. Eventually, some people devoted themselves full time to just designing better boxes – more beautiful boxes to put all the Apples in. Some didn’t like the simple wooden boxes which had been used, so they designed beautiful and costly boxes with stained glass windows so you could see the Apples and they looked so beautiful in the colored lights. Others decided it was best just to stay back in the house and not go out into the apple orchards at all. They could devote themselves full time to keeping good records of how many Apples were brought in.
After some time, a big dispute broke out about the proper way to pick an apple. Some believed the best way was to shake the tree branches so that the Apples fell out of the tree and someone would catch them in blankets and put them in boxes. Another group objected to this plan and insisted that the best plan was to throw rocks at the stem of the Apples and knock them out of the tree one at a time. While this dispute was going on, a group of servants from a distant country came and introduced a third method of using a ladder and climbing the tree and picking them by hand. The three groups couldn’t agree so they finally divided and worked separately in three groups… the branch shaking denomination, the full gospel ladder climbing denomination and the stone throwing fellowship.
Some of the servants were very smart. They were highly intellectual and brilliant workers. Some felt that they shouldn’t get their hands dirty picking Apples. So, they quit picking or boxing or driving any of the new Apples. Instead, they began to debate about what exactly is a picked apple. When, precisely, can we called it picked? Is it considered picked at the exact moment it is separated from the stem? Is it considered picked when it is placed in the box? Can we be sure that it is truly picked until it is safely in the master’s house? Others argued about the proper way to wash an apple after it was picked. Some said that all that was necessary was to sprinkle the apple with water. Others insisted that it wasn’t washed unless and until it had been fully immersed in water.
Later on, some of the servants said that the ladders which were now being widely used to pick Apples should be abandoned because the ladder was a later introduction that wasn’t available when the original order was given. It wasn’t the truly “biblical” way to pick Apples. More division occurred over this. In time there even arose a heretical group of servants who claimed that they could grow Apples directly in the boxes and they didn’t need to come from trees at all. There was no point in going out into the fields. Others said that it was OK to fill the Apple crates even with oranges, just as long as you label them apples. Others denied that the master even gave the command to pick Apples in the first place. If he wants them picked, let him pick them himself, if he really is the master.
However, one day a few servants who were very devoted to the master and remembered his original command decided to venture out beyond the few acres immediately surrounding the master’s house. To their amazement they found hundreds and hundreds of acres of Apples all ripe and ready to be picked, but no one was working there. Everyone was crowded right around the master’s house. They rushed back to the other servants and tried to tell them, excitedly, about all the Apples in distant fields which were ripe and ready for the harvest. They said that they were ready to go out to the distant fields and challenged others to go with them. But, the other servants discouraged them. Some said, those fields were too far way and difficult to get to. Besides, one said, no one has ever carried a ladder that far – and you can’t pick an apple without a ladder. Some discouraged them and said that they needed more training and should stay back. By this time there were some excellent programs where you could receive the highest degree of DAP, which stands for Doctor of Apple Picking. It was very prestigious. If you had such a degree you would never need to actually go out into an apple orchard. Instead, you could just stay back in the master’s house and explain about all of the different kinds of Apples. Others discouraged them and said that they shouldn’t go because there was so much work to be done right here around the master’s house. They were still designing better and better boxes to put the Apples in. Many of the ladders needed repairing. Apple pickers enjoyed getting together singing songs about the master, but they had fights over which songs to sing, so they wouldn’t go.
The faithful servants went to more servants and told them about their desire to go to distant fields. Gradually some began to venture forth. They remembered the master’s command and they discovered a great harvest… a plentiful harvest. Now, when the master returns, which of his servants will he commend?
Excellent! Thank you for a great message …
A good reminder and challenge to us all.
Excellent, Dr. Tennett—its meaning and relevance was more impactful than its humor. The humor was merely an effective tool to convey a direly needed powerful message. Very scriptural , very Wesleyan , and very well presented.
Loren Anderson , ’52, msy in Guatemala for 36 years…veteran of WWII. …..Battle of the Bulge…hoping to go on msn trip in Nov.
The article by the president is what I thrill seeing coming out of ATS…keep missions alive..
God bless….loren
I was a missionary to Panama and later attended Asbury. I have been in those fields where Apples have seldom or never been picked. So many Apples have now fallen to the ground. Many more are ripening. If more pickers had been willing to go to the distant fields, how many of those Apples would have been picked? How can the many pickers celebrate the picking of a few Apples at home while neglecting the many more, of every variety, which are waiting to be picked? Some pickers are found in fields nearer to their homes; others are sent to distant fields; only then will Apples be picked from every tree in every field.
Great message! India is a ripen orchard, and we are picking apples in a field that is far from home. There are numerous varieties of apples (people groups and languages) in the orchard. But labourers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers.
f more pickers had been willing to go to the distant fields, how many of those Apples would have been picked? How can the many pickers celebrate the picking of a few Apples at home while neglecting the many more, of every variety, which are waiting to be picked? Some pickers are found in fields nearer to their homes;
Over time, the number of workers in the distant acres grew exponentially. When it was told that the rate of harvest nearest the Master’s house had declined, some of the distant workers selected a handful of people to send to those acres closer to the house to help increase the yield. But the workers nearest the Master’s house rebuffed them, saying “We have exceptional expertise in apple picking. What’s more we have the best boxes to keep them in. What could you possibly show us about apple picking?” And so there were acres where great tales of apple picking continued to be told even though very few apples were ever picked.
Indeed.